NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Over the last 12 months, the Franklin Rising Dividends Fund
FRDPX, +0.64%
has roughly doubled its total assets--all while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from below 10,500 points to just above 12,800, fell back a lot and regained some.

The steady inflow and appreciation of the fund shows the degree to which investors can and do rely on dividends to balance an uncertain market. The fund now has around $5 billion in assets.

"Let's say between now and the end of the year, the market really rips, I'd be shocked if a lot of money flows out of more conservative equity strategies," because the confidence of investors is still shaken, said Donald Taylor, the Rising Dividends Fund's lead manager. "I think you need a much more prolonged period of equity market performance with lower volatility for the bias to change."

Over the last year, the portfolio of the fund hasn't changed much; International Business Machines Corp.
IBM, +0.70%
remains a top ten holding, as does Procter & Gamble Co.
PG, +1.04%
"There are really very few rising dividend companies" in technology, but "IBM fits perfectly," Taylor said. The fund is overweight in healthcare.

There were a few changes, however. Praxair Inc. (PX), in the portfolio for many years, is a bigger position now, and the fund added Air Products & Chemicals Inc
APD, +0.33%
The two are suppliers of industrial gases, which Taylor calls a predictable business with few competitors and good global growth prospects.

Chevron Corp.
CVX, +0.56%
too is a new position among the top ten holdings. "I wouldn't say the dividend growth prospects are huge, but they are pretty good," Taylor said. The fund increased its holding of Exxon Mobil Corp.
XOM, +0.77%
and sold some Family Dollar Stores Inc.
FDO, -5.78%
stock.

"I can envision a time when we want to be more economically sensitive," Taylor said about potential future reshuffles; but he said he'd rather add companies like Air Products than Johnson & Johnson
JNJ, +1.14%
another top holding.

Franklin Rising Dividends is rated with five stars at Morningstar because of its above-average returns. Morningstar analyst Rob Wherry said it attracts wealth advisors who look for safe havens but also equity investments--rather than simply shifting into bonds.

Year-to-date through midday Sept. 13, the fund is down 3.84%, according to Morningstar.com, about 0.9 percentage points above the benchmark, the MSCI USA Growth NR USD total return.

In the last three and five years through midday Sept. 13, the fund's annualized returns were 1.24% and -1.26%, respectively, 0.03% above and 3.08% below the benchmark, respectively, according to Morningstar.

The fund not only focuses on companies that consistently paid a dividend, but those that raise their dividend regularly and persistently. That means financials won't fit. "My primary focus is on dividend growth, not dividend yield," Taylor says. A company in the portfolio needs to increase dividend eight out of ten years without the cut. "And it can't happen from just [an increase in the] payout ratio."

That is a unique strategy, Wherry said. "What you get are companies with sturdy balance sheets."

Becton Dickinson & Co
BDX, +1.75%
is an ideal investment, Taylor said. The medical technology company has been in the portfolio for 15 years. Taylor bought it for $19 a share. At the time, it had increased its dividend from 8 cents to 23 cents in 10 years; the dividend yield was a little over 1%. Now the company pays $1.64 in annual dividend--an 8% yield on the original purchase price.

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